Saturday, 31 December 2016

So it's nearly here. The end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. I cannot remember a year which so many have faced with such trepidation. There are always worries in the world,But that is for another day.

All that is left for this year is to put the champagne on ice, get to the party and forget about our blues for a little while. As is the tradition at The Barnet Eye, I always post a video to mark the new year and get you in the mood. I chose this song, "Heal Me", which is a love song I wrote in 1984 and Allen Ashley wrote a new chorus, and changed added verses. It is one of my favourite False Dots songs. We've probably played this number with more different line ups of the Dots than any other song!

I chose it as I think we all need love and healing in our life. Our planet needs healing and the souls of our leaders need healing. The video has some footage of Mill Hill that I rather like spliced in. I knocked this up simply to learn how to use a video editor so it's some live footage with few cuts. Hope you enjoy it, have a great New Year and if you have someone who loves you, make sure they know you love them to and if you don't, then I hope you find someone who does in 2017 or even tonight. I'm off to see Lee Thompson with the Silencerz tonight at The Dublin Castle in Camden Town.

Friday, 30 December 2016

When I was at St Vincents RC Primary school, bad things happened. We had an old Irish spinster teaching us called Miss O'Donovan, who was a legend. Any conversation about anyone who remembers St Vincents will always reference Miss O'Donovan at some point. My fellow Barnet blogger Mrs Angry still has nightmares about her. What has all this got to do with the year in review? Simples. Whenever bad things happen, Miss O'Donovan would say "it's all part of Gods plan and as far as I'm aware God doesn't make mistakes".

As a child in a Catholic family, this seemed to be the start and end of how you look at any problem. When my mum was diagnosed with what we thought was terminal cancer in 1970, Miss O'Donovan sought me out to reassure me and remind me that "it was all part of Gods plan".

High hopes last January

God doesn't make mistakes. But what about the electorate? My sister lives in the USA. I commented to her that I really didn't think I could visit her living in a country that elected Donald Trump. Her response "They didn't, Hillary decisively won the popular vote". And then there is Brexit. Six months on we are faced with a situation where we don't know what Brexit means. We have an unelected prime minister who has no plan, and despite having not been elected, doesn't want to share her ideas with Parliament. But it wasn't all doom and gloom. There have been a fewpolitical high spots, mostly provided by Zac Goldsmith. Am I the only one who feels like Sadiq Khan has been mayor for years? He seems to have stepped up and hasn't put a foot wrong.

It is pretty clear that Gods plan for 2016 involved having all the best musicians turn up in heaven for the 2017 New Years party. I certainly can't fault him for his taste in selecting this years line up. Looked at purely from a celebrity death perspective, I guess 2016 was a terrible year, however if we look at the good rather than the bad, there has been some great stuff out there.

As ever, our review is looked at through the microcosm of Barnet blogs. So here we go.

January
We had disgraced, convicted criminal, Conservative ex Councillor Brian Coleman claim that the Barnet bloggers had "shot their load" and were no longer relevant (I guess the truth of that was soon exposed in the Freedom pass scandal).

For me personally it was a difficult month. I ended it with a cathater in following HiFu treatment for prostate cancer. In hindsight, it was a rather difficult period and far more difficult and draining than I'd ever expected. I did however take some time out to write some music and make some videos. My band the False Dots had planned to release an album in 2016, but this didn't happen, mainly due to a technical issue that meant we lost most of our mixes. Oh well, means we'll have to release two in 2017!

Thursday, 29 December 2016

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I certainly did. I awoke at 7am with a spring in my step and a hunger in my belly. So I got dressed, put on my trainers and went down to Cooksleys to buy some bangers and bacon. As soon as I got out of the door, I realised my mistake. Millway was like an ice rink. The council laid new paving surfaces last year and with the hevy frost, it was extremely dangerous. I immediately turned around and swapped my trainers for heavy walking boots. Even with these, it was precarious. I settled for walking down the middle of the road.

In years gone by, the council would grit pavements in icy conditions. This clearly no longer happens. I feel extremely sorry for OAP's and people with small children. I saw a neighbour slip on the ice and then her young daughter slip and bang her head as I walked back. They turned back, little girl crying her eyes out having banged her head.

The council has spent millions on renewing the boroughs pavements. I wonder what consideration and risk assessment was given to the risk of ice. Our road has two sorts of finish. There are small concrete paving slabs that are very slippery and a smooth black asphalt that is even more slippery. The only slight advantage of the asphalt is that as it is black it catches the heat of the sun and defrosts slightly quicker.

If the council hasn't considered the safety issues of the surfaces in icy weather, then presumably anyone slipping may be liable fo compensation and we (the taxpayer) will not only be at risk, but we'll be lumbered picking up the tab. Of course we should all take care in icy conditions, but if dangerous surfaces are installed, then the council should arrange gritting. I for one found the sight of a child falling over and banging their head quite upsetting. She now has a nice big bump for Christmas, courtesy of Barnet Council.

Tuesday, 27 December 2016

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but this Christmas, the good Lord took you away. I am sure that like many, I awoke to the shocking news that George Michael has passed away. As a rock and roller, George had never really been on my music radar, but as a musician I have utmost respect for his talents. He was a truly brilliant singer and an excellent songwriter. He was also brave. Following his arrest for cottaging in Los Angeles, he didn't hide. He put out a song & video in response, ridiculing the morals and laws he'd fallen fowl of. He never shirked in supporting charities and causes that he felt were deserving. His support for AIDS chairites is well documented. He even put on a free concert at the roundhouse for NHS staff who cared for his mum in her final days.

George was a North London boy. His Dad owned Mr Jacks steakhouse in Edgware. At the time WHAM! made it, I was partial to a steak. Long before WHAM! made it various members of The False Dots (Paul Hircombe always raved about the T-Bone) would rock up there and tuck in. He served a mean steak. He'd occasionally mentioned that his boy had a band, but everyone we knew had a band. I took an ex girlfriend in there shortly after WHAM! had their first Top of The Pops appearance. He was made up with his sons success and was keen to know if I'd seen it. "Yeah, he'll be buying you a mansion in the Bahama's soon". We got a free shot of Oozo or something at the end to celebrate. I was always pleased to see local musicians doing good, especially when their dads cooked a good steak, so I was chuffed for him. I don't really recall ever having met George there. Wasn't really the point for me!

The next contact with George was after his 'troubles' I volunteer at The Passage, a day centre for homeless people. When
George was a naughty boy he got given community service and served it
volunteering in the kitchen. When he came down, his first words were 'my
Dad used to run a restaurant, I don't mind doing anything, washing up,
peeling spuds,anything' he just got on with it, no fuss. Reading obituaries today, I saw that he supported homeless charities. He was very discreet about it though, didn't want to be plastered all over the newsletter. I respected that.

There has been a huge amount of comment about his sexual habits and drug use. As someone who played in a rock and roll band from age 15, I tend to thing "there but for the grace of God". I am not convinced that becoming a millionaire as a young man is a great thing for the soul. I am convinced that George was a decent bloke, but if you have enougn money to do exactly what you want, and you don't have to get up at 6am the next day to go to work, is it any surprise. George wrote a hell of a lot of music and then succumbed to writers block. As a songwriter, I know the feeling. You sit there and everything just sounds pants and it is extremely depressing. For me, I have to go to work, look after the kids etc. For George, he had no such commitments. I can understand what looks like pretty self destructive behaviour. One of the things that many at the Passage observed was that he seemed quite content peeling spuds for dinner for Londons homeless. It wasn't a chore for him, it was almost like a cathatic release.

He has been a 'troubled soul' in some obits. I don't think he was. I think he was simply a highly talented guy, with a lot of money, a high sex drive and a low boredom threshold. He set himself impossibly high standards in his work. He wasn't troubled, he simply needed something, anything to keep his mind moving. It was clear that the death of his mum had a devastating effect. The tabloid press are quick to judge, but I think they are way off the mark. George was just lacking a spark of inspiration in the last few years. I am sure that if he'd found that cause, we'd have seen something brilliant.

Sunday, 25 December 2016

May we take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas. I cannot remember a more turbulent year and many of us are looking forward to 2017 with a degree of trepidation. The events of 2016 have set the world on a very uncertain course and we are in unchartered waters. But that is for next year. Today is, hopefully for you, a day for family and close friends, a day out of our regular schedule. So lets take a moment and give a thought to all those who can't celebrate Christmas. Those working, keeping essential services running, those who are ill in hospital, those with dementia who are not even sure what day it is, those in refugee camps, or war zones, and those on their own without friends and family, those mourning close friends and family and those who for whatever reason ae feeling depressed, down or unhappy. I just hope that whatever happens, in 2017 those leaders who have the power, use it to try and ensure that the world is a better place and by Xmas 2017, we can all feel a bit more hopeful and positive.

And a very special thanks to the blood transfusion service and those people who give blood. Without them, I'd have missed the last 54 Christmas days.

And if you have a diffrent tradition just have a great day, however you spend it.

3. The National Institute for Medical Research. Soon to be demolished and replaced with flats. Source of many medical breakthroughs and used as a location in Batman films! The Green roof is visible from all over London.

St Josephs College

4. St Josephs College. Now a "luxury housing complex". It was a Roman Catholic Missionary Training college for 150 years, was a film set for Call The Midwife and other films, fell derelict and now is a pad for the rich.

For many in Mill Hill it is a much loved landmark. The statue of St Joe on top of the tower was illuminated for the millenium. Sadly the drop off in numbers of people training for the priesthood required a new use. The brothers moved out and rich swaankers moved in!

5. Mill Hill Broadway Bus Station. Not entirely sure how many bus stations in London are in viaducts under motorways. I've always been fascinated by the M1 viaduact. A proper brutalist concrete structure. Many want to see it "greened" or disguised. I prefer it standing bold as a tribute to 1960's planning. I think it is a great reuse of space.

Friday, 23 December 2016

John went to visit his 90 year old grandfather in a very
secluded, rural area of Georgia. After spending a great evening chatting the
night away, John's grandfather prepared breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast.
However, John noticed a film like substance on his plate, and questioned his
grandfather asking, "Are these plates clean?" His grandfather
replied, "They're as clean as cold water can get them.

Just you go ahead and finish your meal, Sonny!" For
lunch the old man made hamburgers. Again, John was concerned about the plates
as his appeared to have tiny specks around the edge that looked like dried egg
and asked, "Are you sure these plates are clean?" Without looking up
the old man said, "I told you before, Sonny, those dishes are as clean as
cold water can get them. Now don't you fret, I don't want to hear another word
about it!" Later that afternoon, John was on his way to a nearby town and
as he was leaving, his grandfather's dog started to growl, and wouldn't let him
pass. John yelled and said, "Grandfather, your dog won't let me get to my
car". Without diverting his attention from the football game he was
watching on TV, the old man shouted ... "COLD WATER, GO LAY
DOWN!!!!"

I have little to add at this stage other than to observe the extraordinary lack of coverage by mainstream media. I'm not one of life's conspiracy theorists but I cannot understand the fact that the press are ignoring the case.

Tuesday, 20 December 2016

On Monday 19 December UNISON
the Trade Union with 1.3 million members is on trial facing serious allegations
about the running of the election campaign that saw Dave Prentis elected
general secretary of Britain’s largest public sector union, Unison last year.

The complainants allege that
Unison breached its rules and the 1992 Act in relation to the election for the
position of General Secretary of UNISON in late 2015.

The Hearing begins Monday 19
December to Wednesday 21 December (10am) inclusive and it is being held at:

Employment
Appeal Tribunal, Fleetbank House, LONDON, EC4Y 8JX.

The complaints were registered
by UNISON members after a whistle-blower provided an audio-tape of paid officials
plotting to campaign for Dave Prentis.

The complainants allege:

“The breach occurred at a
meeting organised and attended by UNISON officials in the Greater London Region
which took place at the UNISON premises known as Congress House and where UNISON
staff received a briefing on how to campaign for the re-election of David
Prentis.”

The plot thickened when an
article regarding campaign “Team Dave” emails were published by Private Eye in
February 2016.

“Team Dave; Update No 20 sent
at 09.44 on Friday 23 October 2015. States ‘It may be that in some
circumstances you may be able to “circumvent” hostile branches by covertly
working with sympathetic employer contacts. ….”

Full details of all of the
complaints can be found on the Certification Office website here:

If the Assistant Certification
Officer were to find against UNISON and make an Enforcement Order to order a re-run of the election then (with the
recent announcement that Len McClusky, Unite General Secretary has called an
early election next year) there could be two general secretary elections taking
place in 2017 affecting more than 3 million trade union members.

A damning audio-tape emerged in early December 2015 providing
evidence that senior officials of Britain’s biggest public service union,
UNISON, had allegedly acted in blatant breach of the union’s own rules to
secure the incumbent General Secretary’s re-election. The 23-minute tape
appeared on an Anonymous Blog here:

The audio recording largely features the voice of UNISON’s London
Regional Secretary, repeatedly thanking paid union officials under her
management for their work in securing branch nominations for the three-term
incumbent UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis.

“We have done very well and I want to thank everybody and
congratulate them on getting the nominations that they have got. This is a list
of the Greater London branch nominations for Dave Prentis the deadline closed
last Friday, I do not have a list of the other candidates, and that will appear
in due course but I haven’t got it. But we have done very well, we’ve got
almost 50 nominations here so that is excellent and thanks very much, er Dave
is very very pleased and he has related that to me personally er it is very
important because obviously this is going to be a hard fought election.”

(UNISON London Regional Secretary to UNISON London Region paid
officials on 21 October 2015).

The recording includes derogatory references to Mr Prentis’ three
election opponents (Roger Bannister, John Burgess and Heather Wakefield) and
their supporters along with a detailed discussion of what London regional staff
can do to bolster the Prentis campaign in the days running up to the start of
the postal ballot on 9 November. There is also an explicit warning not to get
“caught out”, while mention of the union’s election rules provokes widespread
laughter.

5. Team Dave campaign emails

The public were first made aware of the Team Dave campaign emails
when an article appeared in Private Eye in early February.

“Leaked emails reach the Eye providing more evidence that
full-time staff of Unison mobilised to get general secretary Dave Prentis
re-elected in December making the union’s claim to be a “member-led” look
increasingly questionable.”

And

“The emails passed to the Eye from within the Prentis campaign
indicate that Unison officials were in fact the backbone of “Team Dave”. The
emails were sent by assistant general secretary Cliff Williams in October and
November. The bulk of the recipients were other Unison officials – a rough
count shows 45 of 50 addresses are regional secretaries, head office staff and
other unison staff.”

“One striking “Team Dave” note says: “it may be in some
circumstance you may be able to ‘circumvent’ hostile branches by working with
sympathetic employer contacts. I acknowledge that some colleagues may feel this
is ethically inappropriate but it doesn’t breach campaign rules; it will have
to be done with caution.”

It may not break campaign rules, but it still doesn’t look good.
Similarly, having Unison officials lead the Prentis campaign doesn’t match the
spirit of the union being “member led”.

The third extract above is in our view one of the most damming,
especially for those grassroots reps and members who have been fighting
employers who are sacking, privatising or cutting the Terms and Conditions of
our members. The idea that union paid unelected officials would go behind the
backs of locally elected branch officials is appalling and has no place in a
trade union. To date there has been no condemnation of these remarks or any
investigation.

Repeated calls for an independent investigation were turned
down.

The “Team Dave” emails provide a context to the content of the
audio tape of the meeting in London on 21 October 2015.

Monday, 19 December 2016

Thank you Roger, the False Dots & the Barnet Eye.
Ladies & Gentlemen.
I accept the award "Barnet person of the person".
I wanted to go to the Midlands Hotel Pub in Hendon but I didn't have the
chance because I had to stayed at home to be there for my mum as she is
not feeling well. Maybe next time I'll come to the pub in Hendon.
Anyway I am very grateful that I am the winner of the Barnet annual
awards 2016. Barnet person of the year.

Originally I wanted Roger &
Theresa to win the award but they nominated me as they insisted. That
was kind of them.
Without help from Theresa & Roger, I wouldn't had my freedom pass
back. God bless them for their incredible work of digging the true
information of how disabled freedom passes was stopped by Barnet council
& their bureaucrat partner Capita.
I guess you know who am I now.
I cannot give my actual name (because of safety reasons) but you can now
know my other name. My name is Calvin Casino (it's my nickname & I
only use when I write & perform music).
I am the one who wrote to Roger back in March this year when my freedom
pass was stopped unexpectedly. Go read the article if you don't know my
story. http://barneteye.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/how-barnet-council-treat-disabled.html?m=1…

I you know the whole story.
I am behind of this. I am the reason why freedom pass fiasco was started
with me. Followed by Jenny & the others.
You see, we live in the world when things happened unexpectedly. For
instance, the UK voted to leave the European Union & Donald Trump
winning the US presidential election. We live in this ever-changing
world. When it comes to the rejected freedom pass scandal in Barnet. It
was not reported nationally & internationally. It was reported
locally & London-wide.
Since I got my freedom pass restored back in May. I still hear nothing
from the council even I told Sam & Christine back in October at
Burnt Oak who works in Barnet council that I would like compensation
& perhaps apology. But that's okay because I had already the refund
from TFL as I spent 8 weeks of traveling on the bus & train & I
had to top up the Oyster card every-time when the balance runs out &
adding the money into Oyster card. My refund from TFL was £34.10. I
remembered using discount bus & tram pass photo card.
At the time without using my freedom pass between March & May, I
didn't want to go public (I did not want to speak any press) because I
don't want to be subject to abuses even if I am speaking the truth. It's
not like I made it up.

Since I got my freedom pass back from Barnet council & Capita, I
started to write to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan back in
September as I wrote at my college. I had finally made him aware (as I
know Mr Khan was not aware that Barnet were rejecting disabled freedom
pass with no reason whatsoever) even he didn't write back to me (someone
reply to me in his behalf). After-all I voted for him because he did
included the protection of freedom passes (even he forgot to include
disabled person freedom pass as he wants older freedom pass to be
protected). None of other London mayoral candidates got my vote. Not
even Zac Goldsmith.
I glad the freedom pass fiasco is over so I am going to make sure it
doesn't ever happen again. Especially when freedom pass ends in 2020
with expiry date 31st March.

I thank my mum, Roger & Mrs Angry for helping me to get my free
travel pass reinstated once & for all.
Once again I thank Roger & Theresa (Mrs A) for the digging the truth
that Barnet & Capita were purposefully & wrongly rejecting
everyone's freedom passes. The number was 230. That includes me &
Jenny. That information was released by London Councils (who issued the
freedom pass cards).
I am grateful that I am the Barnet person of the year 2016. Thank you so
much. God bless.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calvin Casino is a Barnet resident. As a person with special needs he is legally entitled to a freedom pass. This was illegally withdrawn without notice earlier this year. He found out when the pass did not work at Finchley Central Tune station. Due to his condition this was an extremely stressful experience for him. Calvin contacted the Barnet Eye for help. We published the story. Immediately we were attacked by a right wing blog close to the Conservative administration in Barnet, who accused us of making the story up and claiming we were an unreliable source of information. To my amazement, it turned out that Calvin was not alone, hundreds of other people had the same experience. Fellow Barnet Blogger Mrs Angry had even seen a young disabled person have the same problem on a bus, but hadn't realised what was happening until she saw my blog. Mrs Angry did a huge amount of digging and uncovered the whole story, with some legal input from Julia Hines from Age UK Barnet.

We chose Calvin as person of the year because without his input, Barnet Council would have got away with an action that was shown to be illegal. The only way to combat tyranny is for good people to speak up. In Barnet, we have active bloggers and campaigners who know how to ensure that the council is held to account. Calvin is an example to us all. If we just sit back and hope someone else pipes up, then bad things come to pass.That is why Calvin is such a great choice.

Barnet Council resource links

Rog T's Music Links

Followers

About Me

Dyslexic punk rock guitarist, studio owner and author Barnet Eye blog, proprieter of Mill Hill Music Complex Studios. Born and raised in the London Borough of Barnet. Loves loud music, beer,curry and football and occasionally strings two coherent sentences together. Drop dead georgous and hung like a horse (the last sentence is purely a personal opinion).

If you have received a penalty fare at a Thameslink Station and you sent an appeal off to the Independent Penalty Fare Appeals Service, did you notice that this says at the bottom of the letter you got back "London and South Eastern Railways T/A IPFAS". In other words, it's not independent, it's an arm of a train company. They actually run Blackfriars station.

I believe that it is a scandal that this service calls itself independent, but there is no right of appeal and it's run by one of the train operators. I believe that the penalty ticket scheme is a scam to generate extra profits for these companies.

A little tool to help you defeat the invisible men

I've added an IP address lookup tool. If you get an email or you have a stats counter on your blog, you can see who it is and where they came from using this. If you've got an email from someone, view the email. Click on File, then click on properties, then click on details. Now click on message source

You will see some text as follows :-X-Originating-IP: [1.2.3.4]

Where I've put 1.2.3.4, cut and paste this number into the IP lookup and hey presto, you know where the email came from.

If it says it's from your bank, but the IP address is Freds chipshop, you know it's a scam.

IP Address Lookup

You must have a browser that supports iframes to view the BBC weather forecast